Epson Workforce WF-2530WF - Print Speeds, Quality and Costs

Summary

Our Score:

8

Epson Workforce WF-2530WF - Print Speeds

Epson rates the Workforce WF-2530WF at 34ppm for black print and 18ppm for colour. Epson's speed claims are usually wishful, compared with what we measure, and that proved to be the case with this machine.

Our 5-page black text print took 41s, giving a speed of 7.3ppm and this only increased to 8.1ppm for the 20-page document. The fastest speed we saw was on the 5-page draft print, which managed 12.5ppm, still considerably less than the quoted top speed.

Colour print, on the five-page text and graphics test, gave 2.7ppm. Unfortunately, that's not where the slow speeds end. A five-page copy from the ADF took 2:30, due to a very slow paper scanner feed. Even a single-page flatbed scan took 40s. Also, a 15 x 10cm print from a Samsung Galaxy Mini Android phone took 3:06, which is, again, extremely sluggish.

Epson Workforce WF-2530WF - Print Quality and Costs

The prints produced by the machine are reasonable, though not up to the standard from leading makes, like Canon and HP. Back text has a slight fuzz to it, especially on emboldened print, and colour fills, particularly on copies, are uneven. Colours are in general bright and clean, though and copies are closer to originals than on some similar priced rivals, indicating that the scanner, for all its slowness, is doing a fair job.

Photo prints are very good, with natural colours, no noticeable casts and smooth colour transitions in large areas, like sea and sky. There’s plenty of image detail and this is true of dark and shadowed areas, where details can often be lost.

The XL cartridges are reasonably priced and give page costs of 3.3p for black print and 9.8p for colour. Both these figures are similar to other machines in the £60-£90 bracket, so you won’t be paying extra for consumables, just because the machine is at the bottom of that spread.

Verdict

The Epson Workforce WF-2530WF is a well-designed, small footprint, four-function all-in-one which should be able to handle most of the functions required of a home office printer. Print quality is good, it’s easy to maintain and has running costs about average for its class. The only drawback is the slowness of some printing and scanning tasks. If you can live with that, it should be on your shortlist.

TLC

July 13, 2013, 11:59 pm

I bought an Epson WF 2530 in January 2013. A month later, it experienced "total hardware failure," and they replaced it with a refurbished model -- NOT a new one. Today, after spending 90 minutes on the phone with tech support, I learned that the printer had experienced total hardware failure again! Twice in five months!

These printers have cost me more than $1,000 in lost work time for calls, shipping, reinstalling, etc. Do NOT buy one of these printers unless you have much time and money to waste!

petra kelly

April 30, 2014, 11:41 am

This is the least reliable printer I have ever owned. When it works it is ok. But it works properly only every second time I use it. I had HP printers before - they ran faithfully for 8 - 10 years and never failed to print. AS far as I am concerned the Epson is utter crap and after only 14 months I am going to junk it and buy a HP again.

Wayne

December 14, 2015, 6:29 am

Do not buy this printer.....it uses way way to much ink, it uses color ink when you print in black and white, it will not let you print in black and white when your color cartridge runs dry ( and it will even if you never print in color )and there is a good chance you will never experience these issues as the damn thing wont work in the first place.........i know i sound bitter, its because i am , never have i had so much frustration and wasted time as this anchor of a unit has provided....... i have only used this unit 3 times and now i will honestly never use epson again, they should recall this product and return everybody's money.I threw mine in the trash.................

Mike Palma

January 15, 2016, 7:42 pm

Reggie Sweats

March 4, 2016, 11:59 pm

Complete piece of rat filth. And I've had TWO. The first I bought at Staples. It failed after the second set of ink cartridges. Defective print head. After much begging and pleading, Epson sent me a replacement printer. Identical model. This time, the printer failed after ONE set of cartridges. And the solution I have been given, i.e. "Just buy a new one" just makes me angrier. What a disposible and wasteful society we have become. I wonder how many landfills are full of decrepit Epsons. And Epson just laughs its way to the bank, because they figure most people won't bother. From where I sit, printers should last the life of the ink waste counter, NOT one set of cartridges. This Piece of Sh***T is the WORST printer I have ever owned, and I've had MANY printers. Hey, anybody interested in starting a class action lawsuit?

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